Cherry chuck clean-out device



Jan. 24, 1967 R ELUS CHERRY CHUCK CLEAN-OUT DEVICE PIE--5- Filed Feb. 5, 1965 `l-TIE-n l- ATTORNEYS Jan. 24, 1967 R.G.E1 |s CHERRY CHUCK CLEAN-OUT DEVICE 2 Sheets-Shee t 2 Filed Feb. 5. 1965 PIE--4- PIE--5- INVENTOIL` ROBERT G. ELL/5 FIG--5- ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,300,033 CHERRY CHUCK CLEAN-OUI` DEVICE Robert G. Ellis, Richmond, Calif., assignor to Atlas Pacilc Engineering Company, a corporation of California Filed Feb. 5, 1965, Ser. No. 430,691 4 Claims. (Cl. 198--229) This invention relates to a clean-out device for a cherry pitter or the like. More specifically, the invention relates to a mechanical cleaning device wherein each cavity of a cherry pitter is subjected to a positive cleaning out action so that any cherries which might be stuck in the pockets of the cherry pitter Will be removed.

In pitting cherries, it is customary to provide a plurality of substantially hemispherical cups mounted on an endless belt wherein each cherry is held in an individual cup. The pit is removed therefrom by a plunger or similar means which forces the pit through a small hole in the bottom of the cup which is wholly or partially made of rubber. It is also very common to slice the cherries in half immediately yafter pitting by passing the cup with the pitted cherry therein under a set of knife blades which slice the cherry into halves. The pitting plungers generally are set so that they cut into the rub- -ber a small amount in order to insure pit removal. These unavoidable cuts in the rubber frequently grip bers of the cherry so that the cherry will not fall from the cup even when the cup is inverted. Various means have been used such as rotating brushes, paddles, and uid jets. These means have worked fairly well on the larger size cherries which project well above the cup surface but they have been inadequate with small cherries and especially so with halved cherries even `of the larger sizes. When halved, the halves spread apart and lie in contact with the cup wall so that they project less or not at all above the cups making their removal nearly impossible except by mechanical means. If the cherry is not removed it is obvious that the plugged cup cannot repeat its cycle thus reducing the capacity of the machine and/or resulting in succeeding cherries being damaged if pitting is done in such a plugged cup. It has been common practice to employ a person to pick out such stuck cherries from the cups just before the cups pass under the pitting station.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a positive clean-out device whereby each cup of a cherry pitter is cleaned out on each cycle of the machine, positively dislodging cherries or parts thereof which might be stuck in the cup.

Another object of this invention is to provide a simple clean-out means for dislodging cherries which is easily added to existing cherry pitting machines.

Still another object is to provide an effective mechanical clean-out device and thereby eliminate the need for hand labor to perform this necessary function.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a clean-out device for la cherry pitting machine wherein the clean-out elements are spring-mounted so that should there be some misalignment, the spring will yield, preventing damage to the machine.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the specification.

In the drawings forming a part of this application:

FIGURE l is a plan view of the discharge end of a cherry pitter embodying the present invention.

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FIGURE 2 is a side View of the device shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a diagrammatic view of the positions of a cup and linger showing the relationship of these parts at different stages of the clean-out operation.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged side view, partly in section, of the clean-out mechanism proper.

FIGURE 5 is a View on the lines 5 5 of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is a detailed view on the lines 6 6 of FIGURE 5.

Turning now to a description of the drawings by reference characters, there is shown the discharge end of a cherry pitting machine with side frame members 7 having a shaft 9 journaled for rotation thereon, said shaft having sprockets 11 and 13 mounted thereon, around which are trained endless chains 15 and 17. Mounted. between the endless chains 15 and 17 and held by suitable support mechanisms well known to those skilled in the fart is a plurality of rubber cup bars 19, each of which has a row of pitting cups Z1 formed therein. In FIG- URES 1 and 2, the top of the conveyor is moving to the right and sprocket 11 is moving clockwise, it being understood that only a fragment of the machine is shown and that the loading and pitting operations, which form no part of the present invention, have been performed by mechanisms located to the left of that portion of the machine shown in these figures. Thus, at this stage, all or substantially all of the cups 21 contain a pitted cherry as at 23 and they may also have been cut in half before beginning to turn around sprocket 11.

The clean-out mechanism proper of the present invention includes a shaft 25 journaled on the frame members 7, having a sprocket 27 which is driven by the sprocket 29 on shaft 9 by means of a roller chain 31 which also passes over idlers 33 and 35. In the central portion of the shaft 25 is a square portion 37 which extends substantially the length of the shaft. Mounted on the square 37 are four finger support members, generally designated 39, which extend the length of the square portion 37 and which are attached to said square by suitable means such as machine screws 41. Each of the support members 39 has `a base -portion 43, one end of which terminates in a series of -outwardly extending tongues which are formed into a plurality of substantially complete circles `44 to support shaft 45. The opposite end of the support member 39 has an upstanding portion 46 with an outturned end 47 and has a plurality of slots 49 through which the linger elements can pass. Thus end 47 acts as a stop for the finger elements.

The finger elements themselves have a forked lower end 51 which ends are curved about the shaft 45 to serve as a pivot; the center 52 of the finger element narrows to pass through the slot 49 and has an arcuate end portion 53 terminating in a curved tip 55, said end portion 53 and said tip 55 generally conforming to the curvature of the pitting cups 21. A plurality of springs 57 are formed around the shafts 45 with the terminal ends of the springs pressing against the base members `as at 59, with the center portion of the spring 61 pressing outwardly against lthe nger members, holding them against the stop 47. It will be understood, of course, that in each row there Will be an equivalent number of finger elements corresponding with the number of pitting cups in each row on the pitting machine.

As has been said before, the shaft 25 is driven from the shaft 9 so that these shafts operate in synchronism and in opposite directions. The speed of the two shaftsrisr naturally such that each time a row of cups passes a given point, a row of fingers passes the same point. Thus, in the embodiment shown, the sp-rockets 11 and 13 have 27 teeth and one revolution of the shaft 9 will advance 131/2 rows of pitting cups. Also, it is obvious that each revolution of the shaft 25 will advance four rows of fingers. Thus, by providing 54 teeth on the sprocket 29 and 16 teeth on the sprocket 27, the cups and fingers will pass in one-to-one correspondence. However, it is necessary Ithat the tip 55 of thev finger elements pass a given point at a greater rate of speed than the cups so that the fingers will have a sweeping motion across substantially the entire inner surface of the cup lduring the short time when the cup and finger are in proximity. Thus, in the embodiment shown, the cups were approximately' one inch in diameter with their centers falling on the upper surface of bars 19 and were spaced von 2 centers between succeeding cup bars 19 in the straight run of the t chain. As the cup bars pass around the sprockets 11 and 13 their circumferential spacing becomes about 2%" because the bars are outside of the sprocket pitoh line as can be seen in FIGURE 2. The outer tips of the finger elements have a turning radius of 2% so that these move through about 3.7" for eachquarter of a revolution, i.e., as the cups advance about 2%, the finger elements advance 3.7.

The relationship of the parts is more clearly shown in FIGURE 3, wherein a finger element has been designated 53A, B, C, etc., to show its successive positions while a cup has been correspondingly designated 21A, B, C, etc., to show the successive positions of the cup. Thus, as the cup 21A moves downwardly, the finger element is at 53A approaching the cup, and as the cup gets to position B, the finger element 53B has just moved into the cup at its trailing edge and is close to the cup surface, and as will be seen from the successive views, the tip of the finger blade follows the contour of the cup quite closely for at least the first half of thecup. As can be seen from the K position, the finger element leaves from the leading edge of the cup. It will be noted from the drawings that in normal operation the springs 57 keep the finger elements against the stops 47 and that although the tip of the finger element is in close proximity with the bottom of the cup 21, the tip is not in actual contact therewith. However, the spring elements provide a measure of safety so that in the event there is any slight misalignment of the parts, the mechanism will not be injured, but the finger elements will merely spring back. It is further important that the arcuate shape of the ends of the finger elements reasonably conform to the shape of the cup so that the fruit is not squeezed or crushed between the finger and the leading cup wall. The shaft 45 should be located so that if there is interference with the cup the tip of the finger will retract to a lesser radius than when the finger is in contact with stop 47. The shaft 45 must `also be so placed that if interference occurs, the iiexing motion will not increase the interference.

'sprocket or even, in a straight run between sprockets.

Regardless of the number of fingers used, it is important that one finger elementpass for each row of pitting cups 'andi-that the 'tip' of' the nger elements pass at a speed higher than the surface speed of the cups so that a sweepingaction is obtained. The radius'of the tips of the fingers must be within reasonably close limits and isa function of the cup turning radius, Ycup shape and depth, as

n In a less preferred embodiment of the invention, the spring mounting of the finger elements is v.wellas the numbcr..offingers Seleted.. In .gf-metal, While the finger elements are within the cups, their distance of movement would be that of the cup plus substantially the diameter of the cup. Careful consideration must be given to all these factors in each application to select the most desirable combination. If two or three sizes of cups are to be used with one cleanout device these can vary a reasonable amount in diameter providing there is no interference with the smallest size. In such cases, provision to advance or retard the finger elements a small amount should be ymade so .that the finger tip 55 will enter the trailing edge lof the 4cup without interference but with a minimum of clearance.

Although theclean-out device of the present invention has been shownpadjacent one end of t-he machine where the cups pass around the sprockets, it is not necessary that the device be located on the horizontal center line of the sprocket, but preferably it is located at the lower portion of the sprocket or even in the straight portion of the run of the conveyor chain, under the machine. lThus, it would normally be preferredvtol permit those cherries which are free, to fall by gravity as the cups pass around the end of the machine and employ the finger elements under the machine to dislodge those cherries which: might be retained in the cups. If the device is employed at a point away from the sprocket, it is necessary to` provide guides for the chain so that the cups will pass in' a known position.

It will als-o be obvious to one skilled in the art that this device can be used with cups of a shape other than hemispherical as long as the shape of the cups parallel to the direction of motion approximates a radius. Such a cup might be a half cylinder wit-h its axis parallel to the cup bar.

While this device is shown applied to a cherry pitter, it is not intended that its application be so limited. It can readily be adapted to other machines where substantially hemispherical or semicircular cups move in a path past a point and where a clean-out action is desired to insure removal of items carried by such cups.

I claim:

1. In a fruit pitter or the like, wherein individual fruits are carried in substantially hemispherical cups, said cups being mounted on an endless conveyor, whereby successive cups pass a given point, the improvement comprising:

(a) a c-lean-out mechanism mounted adjacent said conveyor, said Clean-out mechanism having a finger element having an end substantially conforming in configuration to the bottom of the cups;

(b) means for moving said finger element in the same 'direction but at a higher rate of speed than the conveyor; and

(c) means for moving said finger element into the trailing edge of a cup and moving the finger element substantially to follow the profile of the cup and withdrawing the finger element at the leading edge of the cup.

2. In a fruit pitter or the like,I wherein individual fruits are carried in substantially hemispherical cups, said cups being mounted on an endless conveyor, a clean-out mechanism mounted adjacent the conveyor for cleaning the fruit out of said cups, said clean-out mechanism comprising in combination:

(a) a shaft mounted for rotation parallel to the conveyor;

(b) a plurality of finger elements extending outwardly from said shaft; v

(c) drive means for driving said shaft and said conveyor in synchronism', said finger element having a tip portion-substantially conforming tothe shape of a cup, theouter peripheral edge of said finger element moving at a substantially higher speed than said conveyor, whereby said finger element will enter the trailing edge 0f a cup, 'advance through the cup,

5 closely following the prole of the cup and exit from the leading edge of the cup, removing material therefrom.

3. The structure of claim 2 wherein said nger elements are spring-mounted.

4. The structure of claim 2 wherein the finger element has au arcuate end portion, said arcuate end portion substantially conforming in curvature to the curvature of said hemisphercal cups.

6 References Cited bythe Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,107,730 8/1914 Torrance 198-230X 5 SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner.

RICHARD E. AEGERTER, Examiner. 

1. IN A FRUIT PITTER OR THE LIKE, WHEREIN INDIVIDUAL FRUITS ARE CARRIED IN SUBSTANTIALLY HEMISPHERICAL CUPS, SAID CUPS BEING MOUNTED ON AN ENDLESS CONVEYOR, WHEREBY SUCCESSIVE CUPS PASS A GIVEN POINT, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING: (A) A CLEAN-OUT MECHANISM MOUNTED ADJACENT SAID CONVEYOR, SAID CLEAN-OUT MECHANISM HAVING A FINGER ELEMENT HAVING AN END SUBSTANTIALLY CONFORMING IN CONFIGURATION TO THE BOTTOM OF THE CUPS; (B) MEANS FOR MOVING SAID FINGER ELEMENT IN THE SAME DIRECTION BUT AT A HIGHER RATE OF SPEED THAN THE CONVEYOR; AND (C) MEANS FOR MOVING SAID FINGER ELEMENT INTO THE TRAILING EDGE OF A CUP AND MOVING THE FINGER ELEMENT SUBSTANTIALLY TO FOLLOW THE PROFILE OF THE CUP AND WITHDRAWING THE FINGER ELEMENT AT THE LEADING EDGE OF THE CUP. 